The Alpha's Forbidden Sister

The whispers started before I even reached my locker.

Every corridor felt narrower than usual, choked with lingering stares and pointed smirks. Whenever I turned my head, people ducked behind their lockers or exchanged sharp glances. By the time I sat down in my first class, I caught two girls behind me leaning across the aisle, their voices barely dropped to a murmur.

"Did you hear what Tessa said yesterday? Elara was drenched in his scent."

"Her own brother? That is sick. She really thinks she can sleep her way into the Alpha seat."

My stomach dropped through the floor. Someone had stood near the courtyard hedges when Tessa confronted me yesterday morning. They had taken her words and twisted them into an outright scandal.

By noon, the gossip had mutated into a firestorm across campus.

I tried to cut through the athletic wing to reach the rear exit, wanting nothing more than to slip away before the lunch rush. But as I rounded the hallway leading to the abandoned locker rooms, footsteps crowded behind me.

Before I could turn, two pairs of hands shoved me forward.

I stumbled over the threshold into the dark, damp locker room, catching myself against a rusted bench. The heavy door slammed shut behind me, the lock clicking into place.

Brielle stood near the center, flanked by three girls from her inner circle. Her arms were folded across her chest, her lips curved into a smug, venomous smile.

"Look at our little home-wrecker," Brielle said, stepping forward. "Running away so soon, Elara?"

"Move, Brielle," I said, keeping my voice as steady as my racing pulse allowed. "I don't know what lies you've been spreading, but I haven't done anything."

"Lies?" One of the girls behind her scoffed. "The whole pack knows you're sniffing around Rowan. You've been waiting for a chance to spread your legs."

Brielle pulled a pair of heavy shears from her jacket pocket. The metal blades caught the dim fluorescent bulb above us with a dull gleam.

"You need to be taught where you belong," Brielle said.

"Back off!" I lunged toward the door, but the two girls grabbed my arms, slamming me hard against the metal lockers.

I struggled, kicking and thrashing, but they pinned my wrists behind my back. Brielle walked up, grabbed a handful of my hair, and yanked my head backward.

"Hold her still," Brielle snapped.

The shears crunched through the strands near my scalp. Clumps of dark hair fell around my face, scattering across the grimy tile floor. Nausea churned in my throat as I fought against their grip, but another girl reached forward, grabbing the collar of my uniform shirt and ripping it down the front. The fabric tore with a loud, sickening shred, exposing my camisole.

Then a kick landed behind my knees. My legs gave out, and I slammed onto the hard concrete.

"Admit what you are," Brielle demanded, stepping over me and pressing the toe of her leather boot directly against my collarbone. "Say it out loud. Tell us you're a shameless whore."

Tears pricked my eyes, but I glared up at her through my ruined hair. "I haven't ruined anything between anyone—"

Brielle ground the sole of her boot down, cutting off my breath. "Say it! And lick the dirt off my shoes while you're down there, you filthy stray."

"Go to hell," I choked out.

Brielle sneered, pulling her phone from her pocket and tapping the screen before shoving it inches from my face. "You really thought you had a chance with him, didn't you? Look at this."

On the screen was an official pack social announcement, stamped with the elder council’s seal. A formal portrait of Rowan stood beside Celine Beaumont, their names linked beneath the headline: *Official Betrothal of the Future Alpha.*

The date stamped beneath was this morning.

"He's engaged, Elara," Brielle taunted, crouching down so her spiteful whisper scraped against my ear. "To a real lady with pedigree. You aren't family, and you aren't his mate. You're just a pathetic pet the Hale family picked up off the street out of pity. Nothing more."

The words felt like blunt knives tearing into my chest. Inside me, my wolf roared in a violent tempest of panic and fury. The moon bond, still surging from the night before, thrashed against my ribs, clawing to burst free. My vision flickered with red, my breathing turning into short, fractured gasps as the humiliation threatened to tear my mind apart.

Suddenly, the locker room door rattled with violent force.

The latch broke with a sharp crack, and the door swung open.

Silas Voss stood in the entryway. His dark eyes took in the scene—the torn clothes, the chopped locks of hair on the floor, and Brielle towering over me.

"Get out," Silas commanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous, gravelly register.

Brielle blinked, startled. "Silas—"

"I said get the fuck out before I snap your neck," Silas snarled, his fangs lengthening as his aura flooded the room with sudden, crushing force.

The girls backed away immediately. Brielle shot me one last hateful glare, pocketed her shears, and hurried past him into the hall with her friends, their hurried footsteps fading down the corridor.

I slumped against the cold lockers, trembling violently, trying to pull the shredded pieces of my shirt together over my chest. Relief briefly touched my mind—until Silas turned back around.

He closed the door and turned the deadbolt.

A cold dread pooled in my gut. Silas turned to face me, his gaze dragging over my exposed skin, my bare collarbone, and the tears wet on my cheeks. His expression was hungry.

"Look at you," Silas murmured, his voice thick as he stepped toward me. "They really broke you down, didn't they?"

"Silas, no..." I scrambled backward against the floor, but my back hit the steel lockers. "Stay away from me."

"Why?" He dropped to his knees in front of me, grabbing both of my wrists and pinning them against the floor above my head with one broad hand. "You turned me down yesterday in front of everyone. But look where keeping yourself pure for Rowan got you."

"Let go of me!" I screamed, thrashing beneath his weight.

Silas didn't listen. He tore the remaining fabric of my collar away, his other hand gripping my waist roughly, dragging me flat against the dusty floor. He leaned over me, his hips pressing heavily between my thighs, pinning my legs so I couldn't kick.

Tears streamed down my temples as I sobbed, begging him to stop, but the sound only seemed to feed his excitement. A low, ragged laugh rumbled in his chest. He shoved his face into the hollow of my neck, inhaling deeply, groaning as his teeth scraped against my tender skin.

He was getting off on my helplessness, relishing every shudder and every choked sob that left my lips.

"Rowan isn't coming to save you," Silas whispered against my throat, opening his jaw wide, his canines extending toward my scent gland to force the bond. "He belongs to Celine now."

The dark pulled hard at the edges of my mind. My strength completely vanished, my body growing numb under the weight of his grip. I closed my eyes, sinking into despair, waiting for the fatal bite that would ruin my life forever.

Then the concrete wall shook.

The heavy steel door didn't just swing open—it was ripped off its hinges, flying across the room and crashing into a row of lockers with a deafening boom.

A suffocating Alpha aura slammed through the space.

Silas barely had time to look up before a massive hand seized the back of his neck, hoisting him off me and hurling him across the concrete floor. Silas skidded hard into the far benches, spitting blood.

Rowan stood over him like an executioner. His eyes burned with terrifying fury. He closed the distance in an instant, driving his fist into Silas's jaw with a sickening crunch, then smashing him into the wall until Silas went limp and collapsed onto the tiles.

I tried to keep my eyes open. I tried to focus on Rowan as he turned back toward me, but the room spun violently. The darkness swallowed me whole, and my head dropped against the floor.

When I briefly drifted back to the surface of consciousness, I was no longer on the cold floor.

Rowan’s arms were wrapped firmly around me, lifting my bruised, trembling body against his chest. His dark jacket was wrapped tightly around my torn clothes, shielding me from the world.

He carried me out through the shattered doorway, through the quiet halls of the school, not saying a single word. His heartbeat hammered furiously against my ear, hard and terrifyingly fast, carrying me away into the blinding afternoon light.